You can downplay Toronto’s winning streak if you want. It’s come mostly against mediocre to bad teams, some missing their top players and mostly at home. But we aren’t buying that line of thinking. This is one of the best Raptors teams ever, a squad playing without its starting small forward and it’s still beating all comers. This has been an impressive ride and it shouldn’t be to borrow a Dwane Casey term: “Poo pooed.”
“We can’t dismiss the fact these young men have strung together 10 first time in 20 years,” Casey said.
“It’s not the end all, but it’s an accomplishment. We’ve got to continue to improve, keep the big picture in mind, the rest of the season, we’ve got a marathon to go, to continue play and get better.”
As for having two all-stars for just the second time ever:
“I think it’s great for the organization from where we came from, where these two young men have come from, Kyle from Houston, and DeMar coming here and growing in the program; it just says a lot for how hard they’ve worked and developed into who they are.
“I don’t think if you looked in a crystal ball, you would’ve said you’d have two all-stars starting for the Toronto Raptors four or five years ago. Some of you were saying different things.”
Indeed we were.
NEXT STEP
Casey on how DeRozan can continue to improve:
“I’ve said he’s got another level. Defensively, his three-point shooting can go to another level. He’s going to get physically stronger just by getting older. That’s going to help his game. He’s now beginning to take hits and play through it, which he’d didn’t do two, three years ago. That level is going to come just through maturity and experience. The game is going to get even slower for him as he gets older and good things can only happen.”
Defence is the key. DeRozan is a net positive now because of his effectiveness on offence, but if he can even improve slightly at the other end, he’ll be even more useful to the Raptors.
A RARITY
Oddly, considering Carmelo Anthony, Kristaps Porzingis and Jose Calderon were out, cutting into New York’s depth significantly, the Knicks reserves outscored Toronto’s bench 39-31.
Terrence Ross had a strong all-around game, but his shot was off, so that could explain it.
Still, the bench has outscored opponents in 13-of-14 games, after managing the feat just 12 times in the first 32 games of the season.
During the winning streak, Toronto’s bench has shot 50.6% from the floor (No. 3 in the NBA and first amongst non-ridiculous squads – Golden State and San Antonio), has blocked 3.1 shots (second), committed the fourth-fewest fouls and is a +78 (San Antonio is next, way behind at +54).
They’ve been huge and Ross and Patrick Patterson were still game-best +23 and +21, respectively, against the Knicks.
“That says something about what he’s doing and what it takes, other than scoring,” Casey said of Ross playing so well, despite not hitting shots.
TNT LOVE FOR RAPTORS
Thursday’s game was Toronto’s only TNT broadcast in the United States (until the playoffs, unless other games are added) and Mike Fratello and Grant Hill were impressed.
“When you look at the Raptors’ roster, the two most experienced guys are Scola…and Lowry… They’re a very young, good team as they look to the future… They’ve got a lot of draft picks built up and tradeable assets, it’s a very good situation,” Fratello said.
“DeMar DeRozan gets to the line because he’s constantly attacking. He reminds you a little bit of Dwyane Wade,” added Hill, a point Wade himself had recently made to the Miami media when the Heat was in town.
Charles Barkley called DeRozan and Lowry the second-best backcourt in the NBA, behind Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, but said the big men need to provide more if the team is to go far.
Jonas Valanciunas (who Barkley successfully called by his proper name, apparently) had a rough outing, missing 12-of-16 shot attempts and failing to collect an assists for a third straight game.
Barkley also said again he can’t wait to get to Toronto for the all-star game and added he’d be spending some time in Mississauga
Who knew he was a Raptors 905 fan?
Must be Bruno.
QUOTABLE
DeRozan on if he thought there was a chance Lowry would really sit out due to his sore wrist:
“No. Don’t believe that with Kyle. Everyday is questionable with Kyle,” DeRozan said.
QUOTABLE II
Casey on potentially pulling ahead of Cleveland:
“We’ve got to continue to improve, I’m confident we’re going to keep pushing to get better, to keep working to get there, get healthy, 100 percent healthy, which is probably impossible in this league. But that’s our goal, to be first in the conference. Whether we get it done or not, we’ll see. That’s why it’s a marathon, that’s why we can’t be satisfied with winning 10 in a row and get happy on the farm and relax.”
QUOTABLE III
Lowry on whether this is a two-man squad:
“We are a good team, man. It’s our team. It’s 15-deep. It’s not just me and DeMar. It’s all of us. It’s Pat and Cory, it’s Lucas, it’s Bruno, it’s T-Ross, Delon, it’s JV, it’s Scola. It’s everybody. We’re a good team and we all really want to win games and be a successful group.”
AROUND THE RIM
New York came in leading the NBA in free throw percentage, but shot just 50%. Blame the absences of Calderon and Anthony for that … Casey on DeRozan being beloved by teammates: “Always looking out for the team, his teammates, any time he gets a merchandise endorsement or whatever, he shares it with everybody, which always makes everybody happy. He’s been a great young man to work with, to be with, to go through wars with, to be in a fox hole with, had a lot of ups and downs and I’m sure he’s going to have some more. But he is what you want an NBA player to be about. He and his family are just beautiful people.”
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Raptors streak should be appreciated; DeRozan a model teammate; Chuckster’s coming to rampage in Toronto and Lowry says Raptors no two-man team
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